How I designed a Claude skill that turns call notes into action items

Description and use

A Claude skill that automatically converts post‑call notes into a structured action‑item list, decisions, and a follow‑up email, saving admin time and improving accuracy.

Problem

After client calls, admins repeatedly reread notes, extract decisions, assign owners and due dates, and send recaps, a repetitive task with a clear right answer.

Outcome

The skill automates the extraction of decisions and action items from meeting notes, producing a consistent, skimmable recap and email, saving admin time and reducing errors.

Workflow

• 1. Create a skill folder with SKILL.md containing name, description, and instructions.
• 2. Define a concise description listing inputs, outputs, and use cases.
• 3. Write rules to avoid inventing decisions, mark inferred data, handle vagueness, and separate decisions from questions.
• 4. Specify a fixed output format (summary bullets, decisions, action table, questions, risks, email, To confirm block).
• 5. Add a self‑check list for verb‑starting actions, owner/due date presence, inference marking, date conversion, email consistency, and summary length.
• 6. Deploy the skill via Claude Code or the Claude app, enabling code execution and file creation.
• 7. Paste a transcript and request summarization and email drafting; the skill outputs the structured recap automatically.

Evidence

The skill specifies the exact output: a summary of at most three bullets, numbered decisions, an action table with owner | action | due | status, open questions, risks, the follow‑up email, and a "To confirm" block to delete before sending.

Source

The last section is a checklist the skill goes through silently before answering: every action item starts with a verb and has an owner and a due date (real, proposed, or TBD)...

Source